The Story Of Our Pub
by FelgaHelzio96
Summary: Tommy and Shannon Ryan inherit the family's Irish pub from Tommy's grandfather, and Tommy couldn't be happier since he'd always dreamed of owning it some day. TOMMY/OC. Present-day one-shot! Enjoy, and may the luck o' the Irish be with you!


_Disclaimer: James Cameron owns the character Tommy Ryan._

_A/N: So for anyone who's read Chasing Destiny before I started editing it, you might remember Tommy owning an Irish pub where he worked as the bartender and his wife Shannon (my OC) worked as a waitress... well this is the story of how they came to own their pub. (Note: Chasing Destiny followers, I will be changing their ages in the modified version so they won't own the pub yet but they'll be working there)._

_I know this is very different from most of the stories in this fandom, but I wanted to shine more light on Tommy and I also love writing present-day fics with the Titanic characters haha. This is set in 2015 (even though it's still only 2014, ehh January isn't too far away so it's all good lol)._

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><p>It was a warm afternoon in downtown Chicago. The sunshine radiated off the glass windows of the numerous skyscrapers and down onto the clear turquouse waters of Lake Michigan, making them sparkle brightly.<p>

21-year-old Shannon O'Neal-Ryan walked down the busy city streets towards Ryan's Irish Pub, which was owned by her husband's 85-year-old grandfather, Eugene J. Ryan. She held her one-year-old son Seamus with one arm, and her other hand rested softly against her pregnant belly. She and her husband, Tommy, were going to help his grandfather clean the place before the band that would be playing that weekend showed up.

Seamus was chewing on the teal leather strap of her purse as they walked. "No little guy, don't eat Mommy's purse strap, icky," Shannon laughed, gently rubbing his back.

"Pub!" Seamus exclaimed suddenly, pointing ahead.

"Yes, there it is, good boy!" Shannon said, smiling happily.

They came to a large black building that looked as old as it actually was. A sign reading _**Ryan's Irish Pub** _was across the top of the building in elegant gold lettering, and the glass in the windows were different colors with different Irish symbols painted on them.

Shannon sprited up the front three steps and pulled open the large creaky door. "Grandpa Eugene, it's Shannon, Tommy's on his way!" she called, stepping inside a spacious room. On the far wall was where the bar was located, it's shelves stacked with every type of Irish alcohol in existance. This was the main area where most of the patrons hung out. Old pub style tables and chairs littered the floor, and pictures of all the different Irish alcohol brands and a giant Irish flag hung on the walls.

"Shannon, 's that you?" a voice croaked out from the storage room.

"Yes, are you alright?" Shannon called back worriedly.

"Come 'ere, in the storage room," Eugene wheezed in response.

Shannon slung Seamus over her shoulder and rushed into the room behind the bar. Eugene was laying on the ground as if he'd fallen and landed on his hip. He wore a pained expression across his face and extended his hand to her. "Had one too many beers an' took a tumble on my bad hip, help up a poor old soul would you?" he panted.

Shannon carefully pulled the old man to his feet. "You scared me!" she exclaimed. She'd feared finding him seriously injured or nearly unconscious or something.

Eugene let out a hearty chuckle and adjusted his cap that had become crooked when he fell. "Sorry about that, dear girl," he apologized. He was a jovial old man with a full head of scruffy gray hair and a mustache to match, and bright amber colored eyes that lit up every room he walked into. He looked around for Tommy. "Did you say Tommy's on his way?" he inquired on the whereabouts of his 24-year-old grandson.

"Yeah, he should be here any second now," Shannon replied, setting Seamus down on his feet for a second to grab his toy boat that she'd brought for him to play with.

"Good, I want to share a very important story with both of you," Eugene said, grabbing his cane and shuffling back towards the main bar room.

Just then, the pub doors creaked open again, announcing Tommy's arrival. "I'm here!" he yelled. The sound of his voice caused Seamus to sprint across the room and wrap himself around his legs. Eugene and Shannon entered the room, smiling.

Tommy ruffled his son's hair and picked him up. "Hey little guy," he said with a grin.

"Dada," Seamus said, touching his dad's face.

"That's a fine boy you've got there, he looks like you both," Eugene mused with a soft smile spreading across his face. Seamus had his father's light brown hair and his mother's bright blue eyes, and a distinct silly smirk across his face at all times.

"Thanks Grandpa," Tommy said proudly. Shannon smiled.

"So you said there was a story you wanted to share with us?" Shannon asked, brushing a loose strand of her long strawberry blonde hair away from her eyes.

"Ah yes, take a seat anywhere you like," Eugene nodded, shuffling over to a nearby table and plopping himself down. He reached into his shirt and pulled out his reading glasses, putting them on and squinting a few times.

Tommy and Shannon sat next to each other across from him. Shannon reached back to put her hair in a ponytail and Tommy set Seamus back down on the ground to play with his toy boat. "What's the story about?" Tommy asked eagerly, his warm hazel eyes wide in delight. He'd always loved his grandfather's stories.

Eugene let out another hearty chuckle and held up his hands. "Patience Tommy boy!" he said, pulling an old black and white photograph out of his pocket. He set it down on the table so they could look at it. "Do you know who that is?" he asked Tommy with a sly smile.

The picture was of a young man standing in front of the pub. "Is it you?" Tommy guessed.

"How old do you think I am boy?" Eugene asked, shaking his head. "Look at the year," he laughed.

"1927," Shannon mused aloud, gently tracing the frayed edges of the photograph.

"Exactly, and I wasn't born until 1930," Eugene said.

"So is it your dad?" Tommy tried again.

"Yes, just a year after he came here from County Kildare, he opened up his business right away," Eugene told them.

"That's so cool," Shannon commented with a smile.

"And you know what that means, don't you?" Eugene asked with a wily grin.

"What?" Tommy wanted to know.

"This pub is older than me!" Eugene laughed, slapping his hands against the old wooden table.

"Wait so this place is really eighty eight years old?" Tommy asked in utter disbelief.

"It sure is Tommy boy," Eugene confirmed.

"Holy wow," Shannon said, looking around the room. She'd always thought it was just built to look old, but now she realized it looked that way because it really was old.

Eugene grinned and cleared his throat. He began his story. "So the year was 1926, and a young Irish man named Christopher Ryan decided that he wanted to make a life for himself. So he hopped on the next boat to America and started himself a successful business. People came from miles around for his signature whiskey and fresh baked potato chips, they did. You see, when Christopher Ryan came to this city, he started something so grand that it would be passed down for generations. When he finally felt like a weak old man at the age of seventy six, he gave the place to me, and I knew what I had to do. Not only did I keep the traditions alive, but I made them even better. This pub is the pride of the family, and it should be very looked upon as something very special in all of our hearts," he explained in a storytelling tone of voice, stopping every few seconds to scratch his mustache.

Shannon lifted her chin from where it had been resting on her fist. "So that's the whole history of this pub? That is so cool," she mused with a gleam of fascination in her eyes.

"It is," Eugene nodded with a smile.

"Wait... so that's the entire story?" Tommy asked dejectedly, he'd been expecting one of the grandiose adventure stories that his grandfather was famous for. This earned him a nudge in the arm from Shannon.

"Well, for the story, yes," Eugene said with a shrug. "But I'd like to make a proposal to you both that relates to what I've just told you," he added.

"What kind of proposal?" Tommy asked curiously, sitting up straighter in his chair.

Eugene grinned and sat back, clasping his fingers together. "So this is the real bread and butter of the conversation now," he said. "I'd think you'd know a thing or two about business management from your time in college, eh Tommy boy?" he asked his grandson.

Tommy nodded and scratched behind his ear. "Yeah, I do... I majored in it," he replied, unsure of what his grandfather was getting at.

Eugene ignored his grandson's apparent confusion. "And Shannon, dear girl, you'd know all about hospitality... wouldn't you?" he continued.

"Yes," Shannon nodded with a confused smile.

"Well you got here just in time, or I might've been laying on that floor for hours. I drank too much and fell down on my bad hip, it could've been serious and I thank the Lord and the angels it wasn't. I think that was a sign confirming something I've been considering for the past few years. I'm an old man now and I'm not as steady on my feet as I once was, years of drinking as much as I did will do that to you," Eugene started, taking his father's picture and putting it back in his pocket along with his glasses.

"What are you saying?" Tommy asked. He had an inkling of where the conversation was headed.

"How would you two like to take over the place?" Eugene offered. He looked at Tommy directly. "I know your father wouldn't want to take it on, as he's already got a successful career of his own, and since you majored in this area I thought perhaps you'd like the honor of upholding our legacy," he said with a twinkle of hope in his eyes.

"You'd really give it to us?" Tommy asked in disbelief. He knew how much the old place meant to his grandfather, and had never imagined him giving it away, not even to family.

"It would mean the world to me," Eugene replied with a grin. He knew that he couldn't manage the pub like he used to, he was getting far too old to be running around and maintaining a business. Besides, he figured Tommy and Shannon would have fresh ideas to keep people from getting bored of the same old things.

"Grandpa, it's always been my dream to run this place one day, I don't really know what to say," Tommy said breathlessly, stroking the scratched wooden surface of the table and looking around again.

"Why don't you say yes?" Eugene flashed them a silly smirk. "Believe me, it's not a terribly hard job. I've got a whole staff lined up to help out and do whatever you say, all you've got to do is have a wee bit of fun," he added.

Tommy grinned and looked at Shannon. "What do you think?" he asked her, an almost pleading look in his eyes.

Shannon smiled at him and nodded. "Say yes," she giggled.

"Yeah, we'll take it Grandpa, thanks so much," Tommy decided, shaking his grandfather's hand across the table.

"I can already picture it, you two and your kids running around, you can bring a real sense of the family spirit to this place I know it," Eugene said, clapping his grandson on the back.

He slowly got up out of his chair. "I'm going to use the restroom, then you two can help me clean this place up for the band later," he said with a grin, shuffling across the room towards the bathrooms.

Tommy couldn't believe his luck. In a rush of utter euphoria, he picked up Shannon and twirled her around the room. "This is so great!" he yelled, gently setting her back down on her feet.

"I know, but I feel bad for your grandfather, he seemed sort of sad at the thought of not being able to run the pub anymore," Shannon said, a hint of sadness in her voice for the old man.

"Yeah, me too, so I'll make him proud," Tommy said, gently placing his hand on her belly. "How's little Ailís doing in there?" he asked, softly pecking Shannon's forehead.

"She's good, and I know you will," Shannon replied with a soft smile.

"We will," he corrected, brushing another loose strand of hair away from her eyes. Shannon smiled at him.

Tommy grinned and glanced down at Seamus, who was still playing with his toy boat on the floor next to their table, before pulling Shannon into a passionate lip-lock. "I love you," he whispered.

She brushed her nose against his. "I love you too," she mumbled against his lips.

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><p>Tell me what you think! :)<p>

And if you like this Tommy/OC pairing, you can read more about them on my profile! :))


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